This invention relates to storage bins constructed from paperboard, and more particularly to storage bins constructed from hollow paperboard cores or tubes which heretofore generally have been considered as waste material.
Large amounts of thick walled paperboard or fiber cores or tubes are used by various industries which thereafter must be disposed of. For example, paper, carpet, cloth and plastics are wound about such cores by paper, carpet, clothing and plastic manufacturers respectively, and after removal of these products from the cores, the cores generally are disposed of. The results of a survey reported upon in the October 1989, issue of "American Paper Maker" indicates that of some 61 printers surveyed in the United States the usage of fiber core per year ranged from 20 to 1,250 tons, and that of these printers some 44 percent disposed of the cores by landfill while 25 percent sell the cores with scrap paper and 25 percent use a waste disposal service. Most (61 percent) of the printers surveyed experienced disposal problems not the least of which is the cost involved in disposing of the fiber cores. The conclusion of the survey was that fiber core disposal is a growing and costly problem among printers. The same can be said of the cores about which carpet is wound.
One of the problems in disposing of heavywall cores or tubes, i.e., those cores having between 0.30 and 0.75 inch or approximately one-half inch wall thickness, is that generally they are not desirable for recycling into new paperboard because they do not breakdown readily in the pulper due to the size and mass of the cores, e.g., paper cores are typically five feet to eight feet in length, have various outside diameters, four inch, five inch and six inch being very common, and three-eights to three-quarter inch wall thickness. Carpet cores may range in length from eight feet to fifteen feet. With landfills rapidly reaching saturation levels, governmental authorities are mandating the recycling of packaging material. Accordingly, it is imperative that efficient recycling use of these cores or tubes be found.
Although the need for recycling of paperboard materials has been recognized, the known prior art did not propose the recycling of cores or tubes of the aforesaid type in a useful manner until the pallets disclosed in the aforesaid patent application were proposed. The success of these pallets has instigated research for products which have the potential for construction from such cores or tubes. One such product is a storage bin which heretofore has been constructed from wire or rods, e.g. see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,478,914 and 4,795,057. Such bins may have the capability of disassembly for transportation and rapid assembly when necessary, such as a metal and plastic collapsible container disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,265,240. Such bins are useful in manufacturing facilities for storage of various parts which are subsequently used or for items which are subsequently discarded.